Koch Brothers Get Richer (Thanks to Iran) & "Norma Rae" Dies After Fighting Her Insurance Company

October 4, 2011 by Left in Alabama

Well, if this isn't 2011 America in a nutshell.  If you're powerful, you work the system.  If you're poor, the system works you over.  Just look at this contrast. TEA Party uber-funders, Charles & David Koch, train their employees ".. to steal and cheat -- using techniques they called the Koch Method."  Meanwhile, Crystal Lee Sutton, the inspiration for the movie "Norma Rae," died from cancer last month - after fighting her insurance company over treatment.

The rich get richer by working the system, and the working poor struggles for the basic necessities.

Bloomberg Markets expose on the Koch Brothers empire is a tour de force that spans continents and occupied the time of 16 reporters:

A Bloomberg Markets investigation has found that Koch Industries -- in addition to being involved in improper payments to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East -- has sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran, a country the U.S. identifies as a sponsor of global terrorism. 

Internal company documents show that the company made those sales through foreign subsidiaries, thwarting a U.S. trade ban. Koch Industries units have also rigged prices with competitors, lied to regulators and repeatedly run afoul of environmental regulations, resulting in five criminal convictions since 1999 in the U.S. and Canada. 
[...]
Phil Dubose, a Koch employee who testified against the company said he and his colleagues were shown by their managers how to steal and cheat -- using techniques they called the Koch Method.
[...]
For six decades around the world, Koch Industries has blazed a path to riches -- in part, by making illicit payments to win contracts, trading with a terrorist state, fixing prices, neglecting safety and ignoring environmental regulations. At the same time, Charles and David Koch have promoted a form of government that interferes less with company actions.

While the Koch Brothers have been increasing their fortunes (already estimated at $20 billion each), other Americans struggle with the most basic of needs.  

In Crystal Lee Sutton's case, it was medical care. 

She went two months without possible life-saving medications because her insurance wouldn't cover it, another example of abusing the working poor, she said.

"How in the world can it take so long to find out (whether they would cover the medicine or not) when it could be a matter of life or death," she said.  "It is almost like, in a way, committing murder."

If the simple fact of having cancer isn't stressful enough, how much worse to be literally begging for your life as a corporation does a cold cost/benefit analysis. 

The AFL/CIO even sent out an appeal to help cover her medical expenses:

Supporting Crystal Lee Sutton is the least we can do for a woman who has done so much to advance the cause of worker’s rights and unionism right here in our own back yard.

The insurer eventually agreed to cover the medicine (amazing what bad publicity will do, perhaps?), but Crystal Lee Sutton lost her last battle in September.

When asked about her life in 2007, Sutton offered this advice: "Stand up for what you believe in, not matter how hard it makes life for you. … Do not give up and always say what you believe."

Contrast the Koch Brother's greed with Sutton's attitude about her responsibility to her community:

"It's not necessary I be remembered at anything, but I would like to be remembered as a woman who cared deeply for the working poor and the poor people of the U.S. and the world."

Rest in peace, Crystal.  We'll miss you.    Be comforted that in the afterlife, you're unlikely to encounter either Koch brother.